Inside

Bettys hair is growing and looking good, much nicer than the string of pearls, which never gave any height. This plant has grown loads since I planted it in April. She always wears these fake Rayban glasses, I was scammed once, thought I had purchased a pair of shoes at a good price, the glasses arrived instead, they are as cheap as they look.

My small spider plant has a long growth, which is flowering, this plant lives on the sunny kitchen window sill. The flowers behind are silk, our old beautiful jug has a crack and can't hold water.

I'm still happy with my small draw shelf on my desk, these succulents are doing well, they love this sunny spot, the plant back right has a long flower stalk.

Friday afternoon hubby was bored, so he baked another red velvet cake,  which we both love as does Will, made dairy free so the two little ones can have some, it does not affect the taste, it really does taste as good as it looks.

Thursday was a nothing day, it rained all day, heavy at times, good for the garden and keeps my rain butts full. It was much cooler, we did go for a short walk around the park, just to get outside. 

Friday we popped to daughters, finished the front garden, with the help of George and Molly, hubby wanted to start the back garden, but the garden waste bin was full, so we will come back and sort it out soon. We had lunch at the same café as Tuesday,  just hubby and I and walked along the waters edge at Warsash, it was overcast,  perfect for a lovely walk.

Today I have daughter, Will, George and Molly coming here, hubby is away for the day, it's already sunny and blue skies, all I need to do is pop there favourite items outside for them to play with.

Strange.....

 I have been shopping, from a good supplier, Coastal Succulents, Cacti and Alpines, based in Somerset, they are not the cheapest, but they do have some very different plants. I am hoping betty's new hair will grow and look as good as the advertised photo, it has already grown loads. The string of pearls worked but it was time for a change.

I also got a praying hands, back left hand corner, I have changed this trio of pots about, the living stones were not happy, so they are in a pot in the greenhouse, the Haworthia Cooperi I have put into the right hand pot in front, I think it will be better on it's own, it's a baby off the original plant which is now huge and in the greenhouse, three of these plants were purchased in March 2021, so I am happy they are growing so well, these stay on my desk.

We all love a free plant, this one Mangave 'snow leopard' was in my parcel, I've planted it and popped it in the sitting room. I do like the red edges to the leaves, I've not seen this plant before so growing it will be fun, it already looks to be growing another leaf.

My pregnant onion has bumps, I can see three, hopefully babies, it's sat on my desk by our huge window, a very sunny spot. I have loads of tiny flies off this plant, a bit annoying, but not enough for me to move the plant.

I got a new plant for my spaceman pot, sadly I don't know what it is called as it came from the garden centre in a tiny pot with a generic label, looks good, this trio on my electric wood burner always looks good, we only ever have the lamp on in the dark evenings so it's a perfect spot for them. 

I do love the weird and wonderful when it comes to houseplants, same with my choice of pots, most of which I get off line as local garden centres are very mainstream with their plants, no pretty flowers here, spiky, weird rules for me. I have a wall of shelves in the greenhouse which has more evil ones, away from the grandchildren. 

My desk is clear of seedlings, everything is back in the greenhouse, hubby is happy, he hates the cluttered look, I don't mind for the few weeks to be able to watch them grow. Other than inside the greenhouse there is little to do in the garden, give it a few weeks and I will be busy again. 

Inside out

I am outside whenever the rain stops, my last Amaryllis bulb had died back, and the compost was completely dry, so I removed the bulb, and found this tiny bulb growing, I have never seen it on a huge bulb like this, I have left it attached, popping them into a paper bag and placed in my wooden tray. I have no idea if I am doing things right with these 7 bulbs, I will plant them in pots later this year.  

I cut one flower from each plant, including the bedding plants and popped them into this container, this is the reason I love begonias, each so different and beautiful,  including the leaves, and they will flower until the frost comes, so for weeks and weeks. The colours are stunning in both blooms and leaves. 

Grace fast asleep on our shelf by the fence, this spot is above our bench, where we sit, she was totally out for a while, normally by the time I get my phone she would have moved. Like us she seeks the warmth when the sun shines, there is enough space for her to get comfortable. I normally find her asleep on the bench.

I have sorted Bette's hair again, the string of pearls have not grown as well as I hoped, I pulled out the plant and soil, her neck was full of water drained from watering, so I emptied it and filled the area with sand, hopefully it should help drainage, lots of new potting compost and now it's wait and see time. The succulent's are from here, they have got huge, I still hope the three babies will grow into the beautiful plant their mother was, most of my house plants are doing well. 

Wilko's had their seeds on sale, not many left, but I did get these packs all with 75% off, I was looking for their bean poles, but they are still at full price. We wondered around B&M, they were marking down all their garden items, but nothing interested us. TK Max was the same, I did see some cushions, which would go well in our sitting room once decorated, but left them, maybe next time when we are in town. I was shocked to see more shops shutting in our centre, a couple have moved to the out of town location, some are gone for good. So sad to hear the news for Wilko's I always go into that store, most of my gardening bits come from there, I will really miss it if they close. 

I have seen this book around and on a few blogger / Instagram pages I follow, from ladies whose booking reading mirrors my own, so I managed to get a copy, I enjoyed the story, it was good to follow, but the style of writing was not to my  taste, a bit too brittle for me. It did make good reading, nice for a change as no one was murdered. Book 17 read this year. 

Tuesday we had a good meal out at lunchtime, we did a bit of shopping  and caught the bus home, stayed dry the whole time, it was a dull day. Wednesday was a day at home, we did walk to village to rid ourselves of the unwanted glasses and mugs from the dining room. Thursday hubby was decorating,  so I had time on my computer, working on importing pages into my 2021 book, I have also proof read two months. Today is a repeat of yesterday, hubby should finish painting today.

I have grown into my version of my mum, she preferred being outside, her garden was four times the size of ours, plenty to do, I now prefer the flowers and shrubs she grew, modern plants just pass me by, mum loved bedding plants. Dad grew veg only in his back garden, he had a huge daisy by his shed, but generally if you could not eat it, he was not interested. Mum's top half of the garden was planted in later years into an orchard, she did get fruits before she moved out. Mum had her front gardens whilst I was a child, we have old photo's showing them full of colourful flowers.

It will soon be time to pop everything back into the dining room, I did a huge sort of my knick-knacks a while ago, so those only need a wipe down before returning them to their spot. Soon I will need to empty the sitting room, which has less stuff in there, it's another easy room to decorate, plus it's the last one for this year. 

Houseplants

This plant Albuca Spiralis Frizzle Sizzle is doing really well, its on my desk infront of a huge sunny window and by our radiator, it does love the sunlight. I love the tiny curls on the tips of each stem, it from the onion family, This plant does not last too long, but I love it when it's looking this good.

Betty had a trim a few weeks ago, her hair is growing well, she lives further from the window in my office, not in direct sunlight. These string of pearls are so easy to grow. I also have a string of hearts, which has grown very long. 

I got this plant in September when my sister was visiting, the cup and saucer was a birthday gift last year, it is part of a set of 3, it's a perfect combination, it sits on my monitor shelf. I don't know the name of this plant it was in the succulent display, I just love the colours of the leaves. 

This Chinese money plant is getting huge and has loads of babies, I really need to repot the mother plant and leave one baby in this head pot. I will pop the others into old small pots and take them to the charity shop. Again this is a very easy plant to grow. 

Last plant shown here in my office is my pineapple plant, it was a baby in a plant purchased a few years ago, its now at the back of the office on a warm internal wall, not in direct sunlight but still bright. It has put on loads of growth since I moved it here. I do have more plants in my office, too many to show here. 

In my sitting room, which is a cooler darker room I have these two tiny pots, Will got me the spaceman, deciding that's a nana pot when he saw it, and we got the man for my air plant together. Both do well in this location, I have very few other real plants in this room. 

My spider plant was getting too big for the kitchen window sill, so I have moved it into the downstairs bathroom, this is a cool room but it does get all the afternoon sun through the big window. Since I moved this plant it has produce a long stem, which will grow babies, I love to see a spider plant with their babies. It has plenty of space here to grow, I will have to remember to turn the plant as it grows to the light and would get lopsided.

My cactus is flowering, it loves this spot on the bathroom window, it's always the first to flower and although the flowers don't last long, there are so many buds, the whole plant will flower for weeks. I have other plants around, but this one is the best. This is one of the few flowering plants I have. 

As you can see inside I mostly like to grow plants which don't flower, I love the leaves shape, texture and different shades of green. I have loads of lovely pots, collected over the years, just recently I have been collecting head pots and other human shapes. I really love my little man pot with the cacti shaped like a brain, shown with the Chinese money plant, he should be used as an egg cup. The need to nurture plants is with me all year, if I lived on my own I would have loads more plants inside, but hubby is not a fan of houseplants, he does have one by his desk, which he loves, but he's happy with just one.

Thank goodness for crafting and reading, I have enough to keep me busy inside when the weather is wet, and it has rained alot in the past few weeks. My back is playing up again and was bad on Friday and Saturday, so I am going for help today, hopefully a local well recomended lady will be able to help me, at not too higher a cost. 

Nothing much is happening here, we spent the weekend at home, inside, it's dark most of the day, the heavy rain does not stop, typical November, it still feels warm inside, the radiators have come on a few early mornings, but never in the day or evening, 19° is working for us, Grace warms my lap every evening. 

We did watch the carnival from Bridgwater, my childhood local town, it's huge happens the 1st Saturday in November, click on the link and be amazed. Grace hates all the fireworks, they have been very noisy this year, one lot started after midnight on Saturday,  idiots and even more on Sunday evening. 

Relax

Another clever book, are you scared of going mad, either as you age or after an accident, this explores the mind, plus a few twists, I loved it, book 36 read this year. 

This was his 2nd book written, it's a set of 4, I've not read the 1st book, I'm OK with reading out of sequence, I love this character, as a dad with teenagers he's believable, I do love reading 'normal' people getting themselves into trouble. Book 37 this year. 

 My Chinese money plant is full of babies, I potted the bigger one, and now I can see another 4 growing, I have everything crossed as this potted baby did not have huge roots, I have given it extra rainwater as this spot is warm and sunny.  

These succulents are doing well, I have small babies in the cup, which are slowly growing, I have taken a bigger cutting from the mother plant, in the small pot behind, these are beautiful when smaller, again I'm not sure if I am doing things right, just having a go. 

Bette is doing well, she loves this spot away from the window, but still in my sunny office, the pot, her hair is now lovely and thick, I am allowing the pearls to grow down this summer. I have also pinned up the stems of my string of hearts, hoping to make it fuller. 

My Easter plant is beautiful, every time I pass it I can smell the sweet scent, much better than cut flowers, the yellow just brightens the room. 

I've had this Orchid for months, the blooms are still looking lovely, they should last well into summer. I have other Orchids but none have buds on as yet.  

Hubby is back home, he had a lovely few days on a Welsh Guards reunion in Cardiff, I have been to them before, but I find I spend too much time listening to people who I don't know, enjoying reliving their army lives, which I was never a part of, hubby is happy to go on his own, I enjoy the time at home with our cats. 

The weekend weather was perfect, sunny and warm, sometimes a bit breezy, but on the whole enjoyable, without trying I have the start of a tan, I'm now wearing sandals, I try and ditch my boots and shoes as early as I can. Saturday we popped to our local Lidl's, where there were more gaps on the shelves, we only required fresh fruit, veg and meats, mainly stocking our fridge, it's very rare we get anything from the center isles, I even passed by the plants. Sunday another lazy day, we popped to our neighbours BBQ, in the house at the bottom of our garden, stayed for an hour. We avoid doing much away from our home over the weekend, we are planning a couple shopping trips next week. I did some sorting in the greenhouse, it's really full in there, which is normal for this time of year. Basically my time is reading, plants and craft, mainly cross stitch, I have said before hubby is a book worm, so we match well. 

Thank you for all your kind comments on my last post, Sewing is my passion, always has been, whilst it's my hobby, I never wanted it to be my job, I enjoy making just what ever I wanted. 

Wet out, busy in.

My new Chinese money plant is looking good, firstly there are two new leaves in the middle of the plant, so I am hopeful it's coming back to a beautiful plant, then in front is a baby, which has grown huge with 7 leaves, loads of new growth, I have checked and there are not many roots. In the very front is another tiny baby, these are growing much like strawberries, on runners from the main plant. 

My string of pearls in Bette's head is looking good, I have over the past year been layering the strings back on top of her head, I wanted her to have thick lovely 'hair' even if I had to wait for ages, with all the new growth it should start to fill out, and now I can let it grow downwards. In the smaller pot is a plant from my greenhouse, my hairdresser loves these plants, but has never grown one big, so this one in the small photo is for her, when she next visits. 

This cactus flowered last November, and yet again there are buds, these plants love this spot in my bathroom, it's the sunniest spot after my office. 

In the sitting room, my Orchid is looking good, I am hopeful these blooms will last for months, this is my last Amaryllis, it's leaves are almost a tall as me, but again no flower, I re-potted this bulb in the autumn, I will let it die back and try again next year, I would like for just one bulb to have a second year of blooms.  

After many sunny dry days we have rain, nothing heavy and the winds are low, its turned cold again, it's keeping me inside. We have removed the photos on the walls in the stair well, I have cleaned each frame and glass, ready to be put back, we have also removed the old mattress from our bed, we had to place a huge bag over it before it can be removed by the company. We dragged out our king-size bed, much lighter without the mattress on, I have cleaned the whole space and the bed is back in its place, ready for the new mattress arriving later today. Once the new mattress is on the bed and the old one is taken, I can sort everywhere and make it tidy, our stairs are not huge so we had to clear everything, in hope the guys don't struggle much. 

Almost every night I am too hot, so we have purchased a 7.5 tog duvet, replacing our 10.5tog, I hope tonight I get a full night's sleep. I passed on the 4 cushions which I dressed the bed with, a local lady was delighted to have them, the purple throw I am using on our sitting room floor when Molly visits. I have 3 cushions covers to make, using 3 cross stitch deigns I have made in recent years, I have the rest of the fabric, so sewing machine out this weekend. We have not seen any curtains, I am thinking I might have to make them, which is a pain, it's years since I have made curtains, in fact my last homemade pair are the bedroom curtains I am trying to replace. We decided not to paint the bedroom, it still looks good, the white gloss is still looking tidy, the carpet still has a few years life left in it. Once the cushions are made I will post some photos, the room will look very different. We have laundered both duvet covers and pillowcases a coup[le of times,  in hope I can sleep in them, whilst being 100% cotton, they are Percale which I think is the issue, if not its an expensive mistake. 

As always one simple task makes loads of new work, but now most of its done I'm happy, no sign group this week, I was on nanna duty, sadly one lady has tested positive, so everyone is taking care, I'm pleased to have missed the morning as I've had babysitting a few times this week and I don't want to let daughter down.  

Houseplants

My houseplants started on my desk and in the bathroom, my desk is looking good, I love Bette, her hair is filling out, as the ends get long, I have been  tucking them back, now I'm going to let them grow, she does have a full head of hair.

My desk is looking good, brain has grown, but there is plenty of room, this pot should last. The trio on the sill are growing, the expensive succulent now has babies, bonus for me, this plant was 4x's more than I normally pay. 

These are the other plants in the office, all have grown and are healthy. In order, pineapple, which was a baby off another purchased plant, string of hearts and spider plant, which I managed to save, I over watered it before. 

Bathroom, the pots are the same, but I have replaced the 2 smaller plants, as the previous plants got too big. The big pot was a birthday gift from daughter last year.

Kitchen, my African violet has stopped flowering, which is OK as I've had blooms most of the summer, these Christmas cactus cuttings are doing well here in their permanent place. I still have the mother plant in the greenhouse. 

I am sneaking more plant into our sitting room, I love leafy plants, the only flowers are Orchids, which I am getting loads of blooms. 

My coffee plant has lost loads of its lower leaves, its still a house plant, but I think it needs a bigger pot, I will need to read about its care to keep it healthy. I've had this plant since 2019.

We have always had a fake log burner, we don't use it for heating the room, but we do use the flicker in the cooler months, I always keep plants on here, normally only 2 pots. Will gave me the hedgehog and spaceman pots, he also loves the man with air plant hair, which I replaced last week, I kept the previous one alive for almost 3 years. 

Having plants growing around me is my idea of heaven, hubby puts up with them, he's not keen on houseplants, so I have limited the number I have, I do sneak them in on occasions. As the cooler months are closing in, and time limited in the garden, my house plants are my main focus, along with the succulents and Cacti in my greenhouse. 

It was a truly wet weekend, and with the extra traffic coming through the village, and long waits at petrol stations locally, perfect time to spend at home.  I have finished my sewing Christmas sacks for the grandchildren, photo's next time, they deserve a post of their own, can you tell I'm really pleased with them. I have also done loads of french knots on my friends cushion, I have run out of 3 colours, which I am not able to get local, so an order to Wool warehouse has been placed, the silks were on special, and I also got loads of reduced yarn. 

Houseplants

All through the year I love to tend to my plants, so plants inside is a must for me, I love my desk space, I sit here most mornings, with my huge mug of coffee, this group of plants are very pleasing. I have moved my spiral plant from the recommended spot to my desk, it was looking poorly, but now it's looking healthy. 

My pineapple plant is thriving, this spot is beside the office window, does not get direct sunlight, in the months this plant has been here it has grown loads. 

I did have string of pearls in here, but having 5 different pots, I began to think its too many, so this string of hearts is new, the metal drawers are high so they should be good here, again these are in our sunny office. 

Bathroom, I repotted my Christmas cactus, I do love the pot daughter gave me as a birthday gift last year. Once the plants in the other pots gets too big I change them over, I always have tiny babies on hand. 

Kitchen, my herb pots are doing well, each plant is thickening and filling the pots. The African violet is flowering again, it grows well in this spot. 

This is in our sitting room, Ficus Microarpa, I do nothing with it, just a drink, now and then. 

This Orchid is in our sitting room, I purchased it 29th January, such long blooming plants, I have others just with leaves, hoping I can get them to bloom again. 

My coffee plant, these were planted in a coffee mug when I purchased them a couple of years ago, naturally they grow in shade, so they are doing well in our cooler sitting room, loads of new growth. 

I often look back on my post to check how things are doing, so a whole post on houseplants for me is useful, I love to grow different things, giving myself a challenge, I've not found any pips or seeds to grow from fruit, I am trying to see if I can keep an acorn growth small, only time with tell with that. I would have loads more plants inside, but these are enough for hubby. 

We had another quiet fews days, our new recliners have been tested, and we are both pleased with them, I have nothing to do in the garden, in a few weeks I will plant out all the tender plants, but I still look for things to do, I do itch for something to keep me busy, no deadheading, but loads of watering, no rain for weeks and none promised.

Sunday we had a lovely walk along the shore, the tide was out, so no photos, the area was busy with people, but it's so huge, plenty of space to keep apart.

Today we are checking our freezers and cupboards ready for a trip to the big Tesco store, we need a couple of things which I can't get at Lidl's. What plans do you have?